A pair of new residential, commercial projects are coming to Paso Robles. Here’s what to know
Paso Robles is adding more commercial space and affordable housing just outside of its downtown core.
Two projects on the outskirts of the downtown area of Paso Robles gained approval in recent weeks: the 12th Street Pocket Village and a mixed-use project on Spring Street.
At its Oct. 1 meeting, the City Council unanimously voted to approve the Spring Street project, which is owned by local vineyard Tobin James.
Featuring two commercial spaces on the ground floor, 16 hotel rooms and eight one-bedroom apartments, the Spring Street project is designed to meet a range of needs in the city.
Just a few blocks away, the 12th Street Pocket Village — which was approved Oct. 8 by the Paso Robles Planning Commission — will add a dozen residential units not far from the downtown area.
Here’s how these projects are expected to look:
Spring Street project includes Tobin James wine tasting room
The Spring Street project, located at 1745 Spring St. near the Paso Market Walk, will sit on a plot of land that was home to a Chevron gas station between 1963 and 2003 when it was demolished, leaving the site empty for two decades, according to the staff report.
On the ground floor, 3,346 square feet of commercial space will be split into two tenant spaces, including a Tobin James wine tasting room, according to the staff report.
The project’s 16 hotel rooms and eight one-bedroom apartments will be spread across the second and third floors, according to the staff report.
Apartments will be around 400 square feet, with the hotel rooms opting for a slightly larger footprint, according to the staff report.
The project qualified for height and density exceptions that allowed it to put more than the standard 12 residential units on an acre, and will include a rooftop patio and elevator.
The Spring Street project gained the needed density bonus and concessions by making its eight units deed restricted for very low-income households, according to the staff report.
Though the project only includes 21 of the 26 required parking spots, the applicants requested and received an exemption from the normal parking requirement, according to the staff report.
Pocket Village to make use of office-zoned land
A few blocks to the southwest of the Spring Street project, the 12th Street Pocket Village is taking a unique approach to adding housing: building on office land.
Located at 321 12th Street, the Pocket Village will also sit on land that was originally zoned for office use, after receiving an exception to build homes instead, according to the staff report.
“There was a time when there was a high demand for office uses and not as high a demand for residential uses,” Paso Robles associate planner Katie Banister said. ”We’ve seen a flip-flop in that in the economy.”
Banister described the situation as an “office apocalypse,” noting that after the COVID-19 pandemic, there was “very little demand for for new office space and even existing office office spaces are having a hard time staying full.”
Consisting of eight primary residences and four accessory dwelling units placed across three vacant lots on 12th Street, the project is bordered by residential buildings on all sides.
According to the staff report, the three vacant lots will be reorganized to host nine structures: three duplexes on the northern side of the lot, two multifamily residences and four single-family residences, all connected by walking paths through the lot.
The duplexes will feature a full top floor apartment unit with parking and an ADU on the base floor near the garage, according to the staff report.
Units will range between 747 square feet for the smallest ADUs and 1,357 square feet for the largest single-family unit, according to the staff report.
